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Alan
Alan is an NPC from Breath of Fire. He is a citizen of the town of Carmen and childhood friends with the monster Cerl. Role in Breath of Fire Alan is first met in the town of Carmen which time has completely stopped for its citizens thanks to Cerl using the Time Key. Alan is unaffected because he was out on travels when Cerl struck but returns to find everyone in town frozen in place. When the party confronts Cerl in Tock, she opens a portal to view the people of Carmen and sees Alan for the first time in years. The flood of emotions rushing back to her makes her lose control of the Time Key and the party is split apart by the time distortion. When Ryu makes his way back to Carmen, the party inquires Alan about the nature of his relationship with Cerl. Alan tells the party that when he and Cerl were children, they use to play with each other and were very close. The townspeople were prejudiced against Cerl because she wasn't human and had her banished. Alan blames his lack of courage to either stand up for Cerl or at least go with her into exile as the reason she grew so cold and evil. The party returns to Tock to challenge Cerl again, Alan follows them and confronts Cerl who in a fit of rage, badly injures Alan. Horrified by what she has done, she half heartedly battles Ryu and his team but unable to accept her loss and consumed by her guilt for hurting the person she cares about, she uses the Time Key to distort time and escape to the southern castle. Her cold feelings, based on believing Alan can never forgive her, are used to create a barrier preventing the party from entering. Alan is brought back to Carmen to seek medical aid from his injuries and recounts about a tree in the ruins of their hometown that drops a special fruit that he and Cerl would eat in their childhood. Alan suggests it might make Cerl remember who she is and if the party a chance to stop her. Obtaining the fruit, the party uses it to remind Cerl of her happier days and the barrier is broken. Realizing she has lost the will to fight after injuring Alan, she hands over the Time Key to Ryu but is attacked by Goda, who considers her a traitor to Jade's cause. She battles her former comrade to give Ryu and his party time to escape but as they are leaving, they discover Alan has followed them in his injured state so he can confront Cerl and apologize for not being there for her. He enters the castle only for it to be warped and left as a decayed structure. When Ryu and the party return to the southern castle, they catch a glimpse of two children named Alan and Cerl playing together before promising to be together forever before disappearing. Trivia *Alan and Cerl's fates are unknown after the destruction of the South Castle, whether the children seen are meant to be ghosts, a memory, or perhaps a second chance for the two is never elaborated further in the story.